Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) Reaches New 52-Week High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $84.81 and last traded at $84.13, with a volume of 1109044 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $72.97.

The building manufacturing company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $724.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $686.84 million. Louisiana-Pacific had a return on equity of 15.65% and a net margin of 6.90%. Louisiana-Pacific’s revenue was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share.

Louisiana-Pacific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. Louisiana-Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LPX shares. TheStreet cut shares of Louisiana-Pacific from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Louisiana-Pacific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $88.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Louisiana-Pacific

In other news, Director Lizanne C. Gottung sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $193,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,995 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,692.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Louisiana-Pacific

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Louisiana-Pacific during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Louisiana-Pacific during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 232.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 789 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

Louisiana-Pacific Stock Down 1.3 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $77.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.39. The company has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.49 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

About Louisiana-Pacific

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides building solutions primarily for use in new home construction, repair and remodeling, and outdoor structure markets. It operates through Siding, Oriented Strand Board, LP South America, and Other segments. The Siding segment offers LP SmartSide trim and siding products, LP SmartSide ExpertFinish trim and siding products, LP BuilderSeries lap siding products, and LP Outdoor Building Solutions; and engineered wood siding, trim, soffit, and fascia products.